The Kelian Origins of Clara
by Aria Saeryen
Summary: How did Clara's Aunt Elizabeth know about the kingdom of Parthinia? Why did the Mouse King long to be king? Who is the mysterious owl on the grandfather clock? This story answers these questions... (Note: "Kelia" is my name for the realm that Parthinia is located in.)


In the land of Parthinia lived three young noble ladies. They were sisters, and two of them were cheerful and kind. The eldest, Lady Pirlipat, was selfish and stuck-up.

The two youngest were twin sisters, named Alice and Elizabeth. They were good friends of Parthinia's Prince Reginald. He considered them family. Pirlipat, however, had her eye on the young prince. She intended to be his queen.

Reginald also knew a young squire, a fairy mouse. The mouse was Pirlipat's confidant. Sneaky and sly, he expected a promised sum of money when Pirlipat, at the age of seventeen, asked of him to help her win the prince's hand.

The mouse, using his cunning, managed to worm his way into the trust of the King and Queen. They made him an attendant to the prince, who gladly accepted, for he believed the mouse to be his true friend.

* * *

The prince, who thought little of Pirlipat, continued to spend time with her sisters, who, although he loved them rather well, had no desire to marry either of them. Elizabeth and Alice did wonder if Reginald sought their love, but one day they had to stop. For Reginald met up with a young woman known as Miriam. She was the youngest princess of the nearby land of Selenia. She had been traveling with the rest of the Selenian royal family, and she and Reginald soon fell in love.

Elizabeth and Alice were happy for the prince, but Pirlipat was not. She commanded the mouse to slip the prince false information about Princess Miriam, in hopes that Reginald would turn away from her. The mouse soon saw an opportunity: he spied Miriam speaking to a young squire about the horses. To the prince he twisted the story, saying that Miriam and the squire were having an affair behind his back.

When Reginald questioned his beloved and the squire, he learned that the mouse was wrong, for other servants backed up the pair's story. He did not, however, cease to trust the mouse, for he thought he was simply mistaken.

Pirlipat was furious that her plan had gone wrong. She cooked up a plot of her own, without the mouse's help.

She would send Miriam away to another world. That was it. Then, Pirlipat would become the next Queen of Parthinia.

But how to do it?

She decided she would have to steal the King's scepter. Determined not to be seen, she snuck into the King's treasure at midnight. However, Miriam was awakened by Pirlipat's rushing footsteps past her door, for she had spied a sleeping guard and was quick to scamper. Curious, Miriam opened the door.

She spied Pirlipat, who she knew well to be her rival for Prince Reginald's affections, run down the stairs to the treasure vault. This was not good. Immediately she alerted the mouse, who had by now earned so much of the prince's trust that he was considered his advisor.

The mouse did not know why Pirlipat was plotting, and, more importantly, why she was plotting without _him_. He was furious! He decided that he would sabotage her plan.

With quiet mouse footsteps, he followed her down into the treasure vault, where she had almost neared the scepter. As soon as she touched it, the mouse made an incredible squeaking fit, waking the guards nearby. Pirlipat turned, scepter in hand, and prepared to cast a spell on the fast approaching guards. The mouse ran into her, knocking the scepter out of her hand. He caught it, and to be sure no one would go after him, transformed the guards into small garden fairies, who flew away.

The power felt good. The mouse was very pleased that he had the scepter. With it, he was sure to be able to do whatever he wanted. In fact, he thought he might be able to seize the throne with it. Unfortunately for him, he had underestimated Pirlipat. She dove at him before he could seriously consider taking over, grabbing the scepter from his hand. Full of fury, the mouse ran after her as she began a search for Miriam – a search that unexpectedly ended when she entered the grand ballroom. The lights were on, and the King, the Queen, Prince Reginald, Princess Miriam, Alice and Elizabeth were all there.

The mouse arrived later, panting.

"I-I'm sorry, Your Majesties, Your Highness," he gasped. "I tried to stop her, but she is incredibly strong."

The surprise in his voice was genuine; he had not expected a seemingly delicate lady to be able to wrench the scepter from his hand.

"Reginald!" Pirlipat snapped. "You may never see her again!"

She pointed the scepter at Miriam, chanting a spell.

Alice and Elizabeth gasped and jumped in front of her. Soon, the blast from Pirlipat's spell hit them, and they disappeared, only to reappear in another world – a world different from their own.

Furious, Reginald drew his sword.

"Drop it, Pirlipat!" he commanded.

She wouldn't. But the mouse still did not want to see Pirlipat's plans work. He swiped the scepter from her, taking her completely by surprise. Then he handed it to Reginald's father.

"Pirlipat!" barked the infuriated king. "For this vile act, you must suffer the consequences!"

And with that, he changed Pirlipat into a wooden owl and sent her to the world where her sisters had ended up.

* * *

When she arrived at the grand house where her sisters were now staying, due to Alice falling for the son of the rich Drosselmeyer, she knew that to get back into the king's – and Reginald's – good graces, she would have to redeem herself. Thus, she, Alice and Elizabeth together made the locket that served as portal between Parthinia and Victorian England. For most of the day, Pirlipat would sleep atop the grandfather clock and dream of the life she might have had with Reginald, who did marry Miriam and in due course had a son, Prince Eric. Alice bore two children: Clara and Tommy.

As for the mouse, his lust for power continued to grow, and thus he spoiled Prince Eric at every chance he got, making him less appropriate king material. The mouse thought that maybe…just maybe…he was the one who would get Reginald's throne.


End file.
